SteveHiggs.com

Gallery

This is a gallery of artwork I have created using Adobe Photoshop, Bryce, and other 2D and 3D graphic design/editing software.

Most of the images were either created with the intention of being used as desktop backgrounds, or just happen to be the right aspect and size so you may certainly use them as such.

If you wish to use them on your web site, I only ask that you give me credit and link my name to my site. However, under no circumstance can you use these images for commercial purposes or for profit without explicit permission from me.

If you would like to print these images for personal use you may, however if the printed work is to be on display in any commercial setting I ask that you contact me for permission.

Due to popularity and a few requests, I have created a new, higher resolution, widescreen version of my 2006 picture "Bushido". A Japanese inspired picture focusing on the code of ethics known as "Bushido". The three kanji characters are 武士道 (Bu Shi Do) and the large kanji character in the center is 侍 (Samurai). The faded background is an edited version of my "Harmony" image.

Another Japanese inspired image, this time of a landscape with the silhouette of a torii gate in the foreground. The Japanese Kanji character at the bottom (和) means "Harmony". This not only reflects the mood of the image, but also slightly hints at the Shinto religion's underlying principal, at least, from what I understand of it.

The gate was made in Photoshop and imported into Bryce, then post render work was done in Photoshop to add the title, borders, and enhance the color.

After recently installing Fedora Core 5 (a Linux distro.) on my server I wanted a nice, clean wallpaper for it. This one was simple to make, just a few filters for the background… I got the logo from gnome-look.org, and I pulled the text from the default fedora wallpaper.

I've been very interested in the Samurai and the Japanese culture in general over the last year or so, especially their code of ethics known as "Bushido". This image was pretty simple to make. I downloaded a Japanese font to make the three kanji characters 武士道 (Bu Shi Do) while the large kanji character 侍 (Samurai) was filtered from an image I found online.

An image made completly in Photoshop with a bunch of filters and some strange ideas. I blended many odd things together like my attempt at making an eye, some strange, broken digital glass kind of shapes, a planet, some stars.. and anything else you can find.

This image was based on a painting I did back in a grade 12 Art class. I wanted the image to look very odd with interesting structures and strange subjects. The fog and colors suggest a very toxic, very unclean place.

After seeing the word Phoenix on a can of Axe, I began to look up what it was. I really liked the subject and was inspired to make this. If you look closely you can see a few definitions of phoenix in the image.

This is the result of a lot of Photoshop filters clashed together :-) I didn't even let Bryce render fully before I started messing around with it in Photoshop. I like how sci-fi-ish and abstract it turned out. The original inspiration was 'the machine' on the movie 'Contact'.

This image depicts a path leading to an old castle in Scotland. I included the claymore in an attempt to show the time frame. A little 'Highlander' inspired, but at the same time simply a nice picture. I added the path and a few shadows post render in Photoshop, while the main scene was rendered in Bryce.

This image took a very long time to render in Bryce! I also did a lot of post render work in Photoshop with many filters. It turned out exactly how I wanted. For some reasons the year 2004 seems very metalic-blue to me, so I wanted to make an image that expressed that. Gives you the feeling as if something is about to happen but your just not sure what.

This was a mixture of a scene from a presentation I did in my computers class about being addicted to the internet, and a scene of a nice landscape... I wanted to convey the idea of how sometimes we get stuck using computers so much that it becomes our life. In this picture the surrounding walls are projecting the image of a nice landscape, however, the person is actually just in a room. Very much inspired by the holodeck on Star Trek.

Quite strange I know... but still very nice for a Christmas based image. The render took aprox. 17 hours because of the volumetric snow and the lights. I just couldn't get a tree that looked right, so a huge metalic ball worked well lol.

This was in the idea stage for a long time. It's rather 'religious' or 'spiritual' in appearance. The inspiration for this piece was the opening theme on the main menu of Halo: Combat Evolved. I used a lot of Photoshop filters post render.

I couldn't convey the sence of scale I wanted for this one. Think of yourself standing on one of the lower most cylinders, only, from this view you are only a small dot. That sort of gives the idea of scale... I wanted to give an overwhelming 'between' feeling where you don't really know where you are, just that you still are not where you want to be... very much like how I was feeling at the time with high school ending and college soon to begin.

An eternal '3D grid' of alien looking metal with green light reflecting everywhere. This image reminds me of the Borg (from Star Trek) or something from The Matrix. Using mirrors, a few lights, and some boxes this image came together quickly but out shines most of my work. Makes a great desktop wallpaper.

I found a great, detailed, Earth texture so I decided to put it to use. I also wanted to experiment more with changing the environmental lighting and making reflections. What was a test piece ended up looking decent enough to add to the gallery.

This picture shows a little, wooden, dock type structure with a woman gazing off into the horizon. The scene was made in Bryce 5 using all primitive shapes, the woman was made in Poser 5, and everything rendered together back in Bryce.

Fans of the 'Highlander' movies and tv series will recognize this scene. The end of a fight between two immortals is defined by a beheading. The victor gains the strength and knowledge of the defeated. This is shown with a mystical fog and a lot of lightning. The people were made in Poser, the scene in Bryce, the lightning in Photoshop, and all pulled together in Xara X.

This was a scene I started a long time ago and just couldn't figure out what to do with it. The idea of the light beams and the blue on the water came to me later on. I tried to position the camera in a more dramatic location than usual. Made in Bryce 5, with a lensflare added in Photoshop 6.

The first abstract image I have done. Much to my own diss-may it was even made in Bryce, which I did not believe was capable of rendering abstract well. I suppose it is just a matter of thinking outside the box a little.

The 'Prophecy is True!'. A long time in development this image includes many new techniques I have learned in Bryce. The subject is a bright, glowing, green, emerald in the center of a glass globe with glass rings floating and rotating around it. Green tourches light the pathway to the structure. I really liked green at the time :-)

This image turned out very well. I wanted to do another image with lava and the fire just fit in as with the skulls. I also wanted the viewer to have to work a little to see the skulls in the sky, as though they are coming out of the clouds etc.

More of a Sci-Fi style; Pyramid City is supposed to show a futuristic like city on an alien world with an unenhabitable atmosphere. I tried to make it look like the pyramids are encased in their own glass and metal grid.

I wanted to do another lighthouse image since I now know more about lighting and atmosphere effects. This one turned out good but I still want more detail on the lighthouse... I will do another lighthouse eventually.

I have been wanting to do a picture like this for a while. When I finaly found a pack of wood materials for Vue4 I was able to finish the image. Rendered in Vue4 with a little post render work in Photoshop.

I made this wallpaper in a new program called Terragen. It was my first attempt using the program. I have found that Terragen makes very realistic natural scenes, however I don't enjoy using it as much; I just don't get the same 3D interactivity with the scene that I get in Bryce. But, in the end, it certainly turned out very nice.

Summer Retreat actually does give the feeling of just leaning back and enjoying the warm sun and the sound of the water... I suppose it's a reflection of what I've felt lately with exams done and the long weekend here with no work on my shoulders :) Anyway, a great desktop indeed. This image was also done using Vue4.

This was my first image using Vue4; a slightly different program than Bryce. I was quite pleased with the way this one turned out. This was my attempt at making a calm serene desktop with a warm kind of feeling too it.

It's funny what the mind can conjure up with little sleep... I did this image late at night, and I don't exactly remember what my original idea was, but it seems to make a good desktop background so I figured I would add it to the site.

Another simple image that I created while testing my ability to make rings around a planet, however, the end result was good enough to add to the site. One question about this image is how you dont know who is invading who... as both worlds seem alien.

This was the very first image I made in Bryce. If you are familure with Bryce, this image probably looks much like your first also ;). You can see that I was just learning how to use the basic interface lol.